 | |
| Founded | April 1997 |
|---|---|
| Folded | September 2014 |
| Base | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Teamprincipal(s) | John Barnes Jim Harbaugh Mike Griffin Courtney Jones Joe Cain |
| Former series | IndyCar Series |
| Drivers' Championships | 2001 IRL(Hornish Jr.) 2002 IRL(Hornish Jr.) |
Panther Racing was an Americanopen wheelauto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in theIndyCar Series.
Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at theIndianapolis 500.
The team was formed in late 1997, to compete in thePep Boys Indy Racing League (now IndyCar Series), by six owners: open-wheel racing team managerJohn Barnes,Indianapolis car dealerGary Pedigo, former radio personalityMike Griffin, television production executiveTerry Lingner,Indianapolis Colts quarterbackJim Harbaugh and Indianapolis director of corporate government affairsDoug Boles. Mike Kitchel was the Director of Public Relations for Panther Racing.[1]
For their first season in1998, the team fielded the #4PennzoilG-ForceGF01B-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8 forScott Goodyear. The car had an unusual yellow and black paint scheme, as Pennzoil did not use its traditional all-yellow livery in favor of aSam Bass design as part of changes by the company when they addedNASCAR sponsorship toDale Earnhardt, Inc. in 1998 (Bass, a well-known race car motorsport livery designer, wanted more focus on black instead of the traditional yellow to reflect Pennzoil's sponsorship of Earnhardt and Earnhardt's signature black color). The car used #4, which reflected Harbaugh's jersey number with theIndianapolis Colts. The team would debut at theIndy 200 atWalt Disney World Speedway. Goodyear would start in 21st place (due to qualifying being rained and the top 20 starters being determined by1996-1997 entrant standings and the remaining eight by practice speeds). Goodyear would finish in 17th place due to a suspension failure after 132 laps. Goodyear would then finish in 6th place (one lap down) at the following race, theDura Lube 200 atPhoenix International Raceway. Over the next seven races, Goodyear would finish in the top 6 five times and would get a best finish of 2nd place at theNew England 200 atNew Hampshire International Speedway. Goodyear was ranked in 5th place following theAtlanta 500 Classic atAtlanta Motor Speedway and would finish in 7th place with 244 points due to 22nd-place finishes at the last two races of the season, theLone Star 500 atTexas Motor Speedway and theLas Vegas 500K atLas Vegas Motor Speedway. The team would also field the #43PennzoilG-ForceGF01B-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8 forDave Steele at Texas and Las Vegas. Steele would finish in 24th place at Texas and 27th place at Las Vegas. Steele would finish in 36th place in points with 22 points (Steele also drove forHelmut Marko Racing at Phoenix).
In1999, Goodyear continued to drive for the team in the #4PennzoilG-ForceGF01C-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8. At the season-openingTransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200 atWalt Disney World Speedway, Goodyear started in 4th place and finished in 2nd place after leading 36 laps. Goodyear would then win theMCI WorldCom 200 atPhoenix International Raceway after starting in 3rd place and leading for a race-high 134 laps. Goodyear would take the points lead following the race. Goodyear would then finish in a disappointing 27th place at theIndianapolis 500 due to an engine failure after 101 laps before winning the following race, theLonghorn 500 atTexas Motor Speedway, after leading the final 43 laps of the race. Following Texas, Goodyear would get a best finish of 12th place at theRadisson 200 atPikes Peak International Raceway in the remaining six races of the season. Goodyear continued to hold the points lead following theMBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 atDover Downs International Speedway (with three races left in the season). Goodyear would finish in 9th place in the final standings with 217 points. Steele would drive the #43PennzoilG-ForceGF01C-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8 as a second car for the team at Indianapolis. Steele would crash in practice on May 19 and would suffer a concussion, causing him and the car to fail to qualify.
For2000, Goodyear drove the #4PennzoilDallaraIR00-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8. The team began to use an all-yellow Pennzoil livery after using theSam Bass-designed black and yellow livery the previous two seasons. At the season-openingDelphi Indy 200 atWalt Disney World Speedway, Goodyear started in 8th place and finished in 4th place. Goodyear would then finish in 2nd place at theMCI WorldCom Indy 200 atPhoenix International Raceway and was ranked in 3rd place in points. Following Phoenix, Goodyear only had one finish outside of the top 12 (a 16th-place finish at theRadisson 200 atPikes Peak International Raceway) and was always ranked inside the top 4 in points. Goodyear would later win the pole position at theBelterra Resort Indy 300 atKentucky Speedway and finish in 2nd place toBuddy Lazier after leading a race-high 65 laps. Following the race, Goodyear was ranked in 2nd place in points and was 38 points behind Lazier (a win gives 50 points, while leading the most laps gave 2 points and qualifying on the pole position gave 1 point). At the season-endingExcite 500 atTexas Motor Speedway, Goodyear started in 2nd place and won the race after leading for 39 laps.Eddie Cheever (who was also eligible to win the championship due to being 4 point behind Lazier) would finish in 2nd place and Lazier would finish in 4th place. Goodyear would finish in 2nd place in the championship to Lazier by 18 points.
Goodyear went into semi-retirement starting in2001 and second-year driverSam Hornish Jr. became the new driver of the #4PennzoilDallaraIR01-OldsmobileAuroraL47 V8. Hornish would win the season-openingPennzoil Copper World Indy 200 atPhoenix International Raceway after starting in 2nd place and leading 140 of 200 laps. Hornish would then win theInfiniti Grand Prix of Miami atHomestead-Miami Speedway after leading 142 of 200 laps. Hornish would only have one finish outside of the top 10 during the season (a 14th-place finish at theIndianapolis 500) and his worst finish in the top 10 was a 6th-place finish at theHarrah's 200 atNashville Superspeedway. Hornish would also receive his first two pole positions of his career during the season at theGateway Indy 250 atGateway International Raceway and the season-endingChevy 500 atTexas Motor Speedway (although both races had their starting lineup determined by entrant standings). Hornish would clinch the championship at the next-to-last race of the season, theDelphi Indy 200 atChicagoland Speedway, with a 2nd-place finish. Hornish would then win the season-ending race at Texas after leading 115 laps. Hornish would win the championship with 503 points, beating Lazier by 105 points.
For2002, Hornish returned to drive the #4PennzoilDallaraIR02-Chevrolet V8. At the season-openingGrand Prix of Miami atHomestead-Miami Speedway, Hornish qualified on the pole position and led for 166 of 200 laps to win the race. Hornish would then win theYahmaha Indy 400 atCalifornia Speedway after leading for 73 laps and passingJaques Lazier for the lead on the final lap on the main straightaway. During the season, Hornish would battle for the points lead withMarlboroTeam Penske teammatesHélio Castroneves andGil de Ferran. Hornish then had three races where he failed to finish better than 17th place (Firestone Indy 225 atNazareth Speedway) and would drop to 3rd place in points behind the Penske drivers following theIndianapolis 500 (where Hornish finished in 25th place, ten laps down, due to contact with the wall). Hornish would then win theSunTrust Indy Challenge atRichmond International Raceway after leading only the final 2 laps of the race. Hornish would reclaim the points lead following theBelterra Casino Indy 300 atKentucky Speedway with a 2nd-place finish. After the following race, theGateway Indy 250 atGateway International Raceway, Hornish was 8 points behind new leader Castroneves and 1 point behind de Ferran. Hornish would then win theDelphi Indy 300 atChicagoland Speedway by 0.0024 overAl Unser Jr. after qualifying on the pole position and leading for 102 of 200 laps. Following the race, Hornish led Castroneves by 12 points and de Ferran by 38 points. De Ferran was injured in the race and would miss the season-endingChevy 500 atTexas Motor Speedway. At Texas, Hornish started in 3rd place and led for 79 laps and would beat Castroneves for the victory. Hornish would win the championship with 531 points. The team would also field the #15PennzoilDallaraIR02-Chevrolet V8 at Chicagoland and Texas forDan Wheldon (who would make his series debut in the car). At Chicagoland, Wheldon started in 7th place and finished in 10th place. At Texas, Wheldon started in 28th (last) place and would finish in 15th place, five laps down. Wheldon would finish in 36th place in points with 35 points.
In2003, Hornish would continue to drive the #4PennzoilDallaraIR03-Chevrolet V8. Several teams from the strugglingChamp Car World Series would join theIndyCar Series full-time and would useHonda andToyota engines. Panther's Chevrolet engines would struggle compared to the Honda and Toyota engines during the season. At the season-openingToyota Indy 300 atHomestead-Miami Speedway, Hornish started in 3rd place and finish in 10th place, one lap down. Hornish would then get a 6th-place finish at theIndy Japan 300 atTwin Ring Motegi. At theIndianapolis 500, they would field the #44 and #98 Pedigo ChevroletDallaraIR03-Chevrolet V8 forRobby McGehee andBilly Boat. Hornish would qualify in 18th place while Boat and McGehee qualified in 29th and 31st place. Boat would retire after 7 laps due an engine failure and would finish in 32nd place. McGehee would suffer a steering failure after 125 laps and would finish in 25th place. Hornish was running in the top 10 when he blew an engine after 195 of 200 laps and would finish in 15th place. Hornish would get three top 10 finishes at the next three races, with a best finish of 4th place at theSunTrust Indy Challenge atRichmond International Raceway.Cosworth would then build a new Chevrolet engine that was dubbed "Chevworth". Hornish's results would significantly improve and he would have a streak of six races where he finished no worse than 6th place (his next worst finish was 2nd place) and would get three wins at theBelterra Casino Indy 300 atKentucky Speedway (after leading 181 of 200 laps and qualifying on the pole position), theDelphi Indy 300 atChicagoland Speedway and theToyota Indy 400 atCalifornia Speedway. Going into the season-endingChevy 500 atTexas Motor Speedway Hornish was 19 points behind leadersScott Dixon andHélio Castroneves (who were tied) and had a chance to win a third consecutive championship, along withTony Kanaan andGil de Ferran. At Texas, Hornish retired after 176 of 195 laps due to a spray issue and would finish in 17th place and in 5th place in the championship with 461 points, 46 points behind champion Dixon. McGehee finished in 35th place in points with 5 points and Boat finished in 37th place with 1 point.
For2004,Tomas Scheckter replaced Hornish, who left to drive forTeam Penske, in the #4PennzoilDallaraIR03-Chevrolet V8.Team Menard merged into the team to form Menard-Panther Racing and would field Menard's #2Johns Manville/MenardsDallaraIR03-Chevrolet V8 for2003Menards Infiniti Pro Series championMark Taylor under the name. At the season-openingToyota Indy 300 atHomestead-Miami Speedway, Scheckter started in 3rd place and Taylor 6th. Scheckter would lead for 22 laps and would finish 5th, while Taylor crashed after 39 laps and finished in 19th (last) place. Scheckter would get eight top 10 starts in the first nine races, but would fail to qualify in the top 10 afterwards nor would he get a top 10 finish for the remainder of the season. Scheckter's second-best finish of the season was a pair of 13th-place finishes at theIndy Japan 300 atTwin Ring Motegi and theFirestone Indy 225 atNazareth Speedway. At theIndianapolis 500, Scheckter qualified in 10th place and finished in 18th place, one lap down. In the race, Scheckterpassed six cars at once. Although Taylor had three top 10 starts, with a best of 3rd at theSunTrust Indy Challenge atRichmond International Raceway, he crashed out of five of the first six races. The only race Taylor finished was theCopper World Indy 200 atPhoenix International Raceway, where he finished 12th, two laps down. Taylor would be replaced byTownsend Bell following Richmond. Bell would start in 7th place in his debut for the team, theArgent Mortgage 200 atKansas Speedway, and would finish in 17th place, 11 laps down. Bell then finished 5th at theFirestone Indy 200 atNashville Superspeedway. Bell would get five top 10 finishes in 10 starts and would finish 21st in points with 193 points, despite missing the first six races of the season. Scheckter finished 19th in points with 230. Taylor, who drove forAccess Motorsports after being released from Panther finished 17th in points, despite missing one race during his transition. Following the season, Menards left the team to sponsorVítor Meira atRahal Letterman Racing and the #2 car began to compete under Panther Racing proper.
In2005, Scheckter returned to drive the #4PennzoilDallaraIR05-Chevrolet V8.Tomáš Enge became the driver of the #2Rockstar Energy DrinkDallaraIR05-Chevrolet V8. At the season-openingToyota Indy 300 atHomestead-Miami Speedway, Scheckter qualified on the pole position and Enge in 3rd. In the race, Enge suffered an engine failure after 41 laps and finished 21st out of 22 cars while Scheckter led for 13 laps but was involved in a crash on lap 159 and finished in 11th place. Scheckter and Enge would qualify in the top in each of the next three races, but Scheckter would only get a best finish of 10th place at theIndy Japan 300 atTwin Ring Motegi, where Enge failed to start. Both drivers were involved in crashes at theXM Satellite Radio Indy 200 atPhoenix International Raceway and theHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on theStreets of St. Petersburg. At theIndianapolis 500,Buddy Lazier would drive the #95Jiffy Lube/Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria/ESPN 950 AMDallaraIR05-Chevrolet V8 in conjunction withByrd Racing. Lazier would qualify in 9th place, Enge in 10th and Scheckter in 11th. On lap 155, Enge and Scheckter were involved in the same crash and would finish in 19th and 20th place. Lazier would finish in 5th place with a broken front wing due to contact withScott Sharp. At the following race, theBombardier Learjet 500 atTexas Motor Speedway, Scheckter qualified on the pole position and Enge in 2nd. Scheckter would lead for 119 of 200 laps and would win Panther's final race while Enge finished 19th, six laps down. Scheckter would get five top 5 finishes for the rest of the season. Enge would be injured at theFirestone Indy 200 atNashville Superspeedway and would miss two races. When Enge returned for the final six races, he got three top 10 finishes with a best finish of 5th place atArgent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix atInfineon Raceway. Lazier would return for five races (including theABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at theMilwaukee Mile, where he replaced Enge) with sponsorship from Pennzoil andAmerican Sentry Guard. Lazier would have top 10 starts in each race and would get four top 10 finishes in four of them, with a best finish of 6th place at theFirestone Indy 400 atMichigan International Speedway and theAMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 atKentucky Speedway. Bell would replace Enge at Michigan and would have the fastest lap of the race after starting 10th and finished 15th after being involved in a crash after 180 laps. Scheckter finished 9th in points with 390 points, Enge in 16th with 261 points (2nd in the rookie of the year standings toDanica Patrick), Lazier finished 23rd with 140 points and Bell 30th with 15 points.
In August 2005,General Motors announced that they were withdrawing from the IndyCar Series (by this point Panther was their only full-time team).Royal Dutch Shell also left the team following the 2005 season. The team would cut down to only one car, the #4DallaraIR05-Ilmor-HondaIndy V8HI7R forVítor Meira in2006. The team would start off the season with sponsorship fromEconova at theToyota Indy 300 atHomestead-Miami Speedway and theHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on theStreets of St. Petersburg. At Homestead, Meira started in 15th place and finished in 16th place out of 20 cars (four of which failed to start the race) due to an engine failure after 10 laps. At St. Petersburg, Meira started in 12th place and finished in 5th place after leading for two laps. The team then got sponsorship fromNetwork Live for theIndy Japan 300 atTwin Ring Motegi, where Meira finished 10th. At theIndianapolis 500, Meira qualified in 6th place and would be the highest-starting driver to not drive forTeam Penske,Chip Ganassi Racing orAndretti Green Racing. The team would acquire sponsorship fromHarrah's after qualifying. Meira would eventually finish in 10th place. The team then ran the next four races without sponsorship. Meira would finish in 2nd at theWatkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Tissot atWatkins Glen International, 6th at theBombardier Learjet 500 atTexas Motor Speedway, 2nd at theSunTrust Indy Challenge atRichmond International Raceway and 3rd at theKansas Lottery Indy 300 atKansas Speedway. Following this group of races, the team got sponsorship fromRevive! for three races. Meira would get a 3rd-place finish at theFirestone Indy 200 atNashville Superspeedway and his third 2nd-place finish of the season at theFirestone Indy 400 atMichigan International Speedway after leading for a race-high 75 laps.Lincoln Tech, Barnes' alma mater would sponsor the car for the final three races of the season. Meira would finish 6th at both theMeijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret atKentucky Speedway and the season-endingPeak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean atChicagoland Speedway and 3rd at theIndy Grand Prix of Sonoma atInfineon Raceway. Meira would finish in 5th place in the final standings with 411 points and would be the highest-ranked driver not driving for Penske or Ganassi.
For 2007,Kosuke Matsuura joined Panther as a second car, runningPanasonic sponsorship and in association with theAutobacs Racing Team Aguri, with the #55. Meira's #4 carried Delphi sponsorship. Both drivers had so-so years, with Matsuura taking a top five at Michigan.
For 2008, Matsuura was released from the 55 andPanasonic sponsorship went to the #27 of rookieHideki Mutoh forAndretti Green Racing. Meira's team remained unchanged. Meira scored a second-place finish for Panther Racing at the2008 Indianapolis 500, earning more than a million dollars.
In 2009 former IndyCar Series champ and Indianapolis 500 winnerDan Wheldon replaced Meira in the Panther #4 car, with the U.S.National Guard as the primary sponsor. Veteran driverScott Sharp competed in the #16 Patron car for the team at the Indy 500. Wheldon finished second, with Sharp off the pace.
In 2010, Wheldon remained with the team and again placed second in the Indianapolis 500, however the team was not a factor for most of the season. The squad also ran a limited schedule withEd Carpenter, scoring a second-place finish at Kentucky. Wheldon departed the team after the season, while Carpenter signed on withSarah Fisher Racing.
In 2009, Firestone Indy Lights championJ. R. Hildebrand signed a multi-year contract to drive the #4 National Guard car starting in 2011.[2] In the2011 Indy 500 the team's rookie driver was leading when he crashed on the final turn of the final lap. Hildebrand coasted across the finish line to place second. Ironically former Panther Racing driverDan Wheldon, driving the #98William Rast car forBryan Herta Autosport, won the race after finishing second the last two years.
Hildebrand remained with the team. He was 11th in the final points standings. Panther Racing andDreyer & Reinbold Racing formed a strategic alliance prior to the2012 Indy 500. The team obtained Panther's second Chevrolet engine contract.[3]
Hildebrand was released from his contract after the 2013 Indy 500. Ryan Briscoe and Oriol Servia alternated in the #4 car for the remainder of the season. Briscoe was injured in Race 1 of the Toronto doubleheader. With Servia unavailable, Panther Racing got Indy Lights points leader (at the time)Carlos Muñoz to drive the #4 for race 2.
In 2014, Panther Racing suedRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and IndyCar, alleging it lost the National Guard sponsorship worth$17.2 million because ofbid rigging.[4] Without the National Guard sponsorship, Panther did not field an entry for the start of the 2014 season.Columbian driverCarlos Huertas tested for Panther Racing atSebring.[5]
In April a report stated that only a skeleton staff remained with the organization, and their equipment was sold toKV Racing Technology to field a fourth entry forJames Davison at the2014 Indianapolis 500.[6] The team announced that its remaining assets would be sold off at auction on July 23.[7]
The team was officially listed as defunct in September 2014.
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In2003 Panther Racing won theInfiniti Pro Series with Mark Taylor. He won 7 of the 12 races of the season and graduated to the IndyCar Series in 2004.
Hideki Muto finished 2nd in the 2007 Indy Pro Series for Super Aguri Panther Racing.
In2008 Panther Racing fielded two cars in the Indy Lights Series.Brent Sherman competed in all 16 events.Dillon Battistini drove the other car but left forTeam Moore Racing for the final race.[8] He was replaced byBobby Wilson. Battistini won four races.
Pippa Mann andMartin Plowman drove for Panther Racing in2009. Both finished outside the top ten in the final standings.
Dave Steele (1998–1999)
Scott Goodyear (1998–2000)Sam Hornish Jr. (2001–2003)
Dan Wheldon (2002, 2009–2010)Billy Boat (2003) (Indy 500 only)Robby McGehee (2003) (Indy 500 only)Mark Taylor (2004)Townsend Bell (2004–2005; 2013 Indy 500)
Tomas Scheckter (2004–2005)
Tomáš Enge (2005)Buddy Lazier (2005)
Vítor Meira (2006–2008)
Kosuke Matsuura (2007)John Andretti (2007) (Indy 500 only)Hideki Mutoh (2007) (Chicagoland only)Scott Sharp (2009) (Indy 500 only)Ed Carpenter (2010)J. R. Hildebrand (2011–2013)Buddy Rice (2011) (Indy 500 only)
Ryan Briscoe (2013)
Oriol Servià (2013)
Carlos Muñoz (2013)(key)
